The Men Will Talk To Me

The Men
Will Talk
To Me
Mayo Interviews
by Ernie O’Malley
The Men
Will Talk
To Me
Mayo Interviews
by Ernie O’Malley
Edited by
Cormac K. H. O’Malley and
Vincent Keane
A page from the Michael Kilroy interview.
(UCDA O’Malley Notebooks P17b/101, p. 39.
Courtesy of UCD Archives)
Dedicated to the men and women of Mayo
who served their country
Contents
Acknowledgements7
Abbreviations11
MERCIER PRESS
Cork
www.mercierpress.ie
© Original notebooks of Ernie O’Malley, UCD Archives
© Preface: Cormac K. H. O’Malley, 2014
© Introduction: Vincent Keane, 2014
© Footnotes: Cormac K. H. O’Malley and Vincent Keane, 2014
Preface
13
Chronology of Events Impacting Co. Mayo and
Its Brigades, 1918–24
19
Introduction29
West Mayo 35
Michael Kilroy 35
Paddy Cannon
73
Paddy Duffy
96
Tommy Heavey
118
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Broddie Malone
163
South Mayo 208
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library
208
ISBN: 978 1 78117 206 3
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,
be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent
in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a
similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Tom Maguire North Mayo
228
Matt Kilcawley
228
P. J. Ruttledge 264
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information
or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher in writing.
East Mayo 282
Johnny Grealy 282
Printed and bound in the EU.
Tom Carney 303
Short Biographical Sketches of Men Referenced
in Footnotes
329
Bibliography 333
Index
335
Acknowledgements
Foremost in this endeavour to facilitate greater public access
to the Ernie O’Malley Military Notebook Interviews have
been Seamus Helferty, Principal Archivist, and his staff at the
University College Dublin Archives, the keepers of the Ernie
O’Malley Archives since 1974. This series of volumes could not
have been started without their support and backing over these
past few years. They shared the vision.
Many people have helped unstintingly along the journey to
transcribe some of the more than 450 handwritten interviews
of survivors of the War of Independence and Civil War. Special
thanks should be given to Eunan O’Halpin at Trinity College
Dublin’s Institute for Contemporary History, who facilitated a
one-day seminar on this transcription process back in 2009.
In terms of this Mayo volume, it could not have been
undertaken but for the noble assistance of Dominic Price,
initially, and Vincent Keane, subsequently. Dominic undertook
the initial transcription of most of these Mayo interviews; those
who also assisted with initial transcriptions were Frances-Mary
Blake for Michael Kilroy, Roddy Ryan for his grandfather P. J.
Ruttledge, and Cormac Ó Comhraí with one interview, parts
of which were included in The Men Will Talk to Me: Galway
Interviews by Ernie O’Malley, which he and I co-edited. Vincent
Keane has assisted greatly with his extensive local knowledge of
people and places in Mayo, which is essential to getting facts and
locations accurately recorded. A project like this needs local lore,
and Vincent undertook this task professionally and generously,
and truly this volume could not have been completed without
him.
For photographs, copyright and other permissions we are
7
The Men Will Talk to Me
Acknowledgements
indebted to Anthony Leonard, who provided photographs by
his grandfather, J. J. Leonard; Seamus Grealy for his father,
Johnny Grealy; Robert Ryan for his grandfather, P. J. Ruttledge;
Micky Kilcawley for his father, Matt Kilcawley; Mary Maguire
McMonagle for her father, Tom Maguire; Dr Pádraig Carney
and Pádraig Walsh for Tom Carney; James Reddiough and Lew
Thorne for the Swinford IRA Training Camp photograph, as
well as to Mercier Press for their marvellous archive collection.
Other people have helped on specific questions: Tim
Horgan, Bronach Joyce and Aidan Clarke of the Westport
Historical Society, Johanna Kilcawley McGrath, Anthony
Leonard, Anne McMonagle, Rosa Meehan, Eve Morrison,
Cormac Ó Comhraí and Kitty O’Malley. I would also like to
thank Dominic Price for his general support over many years,
Kathleen Hegarty Thorne and Lew Thorne for moral support
and comments on the chronology, Pádraig Walsh, and many
others. I thank my family for their support in this endeavour:
my wife, Moira, and children, Bergin and Conor O’Malley,
and Bergin’s husband, David Boyle, all of whom have been so
supportive on the technical side.
Thanks must also be given to Mary Feehan of Mercier Press,
along with her highly supportive staff, for agreeing to publish
this volume as the third in this series of interviews.
Cormac O’Malley
8
As this is a history with a difference and the work was already
done by Ernie O’Malley back in the 1950s, it was just a case of
identifying dates and strange place names, and providing short
biographical notes on various individuals. My main source of
information was the public libraries. The research section of the
Castlebar Public Library provided me with much of what I was
seeking and I extend my thanks to the staff there. Marguerite, in
Westport Public Library, made some phone calls for me when
I sought information regarding the North Mayo Brigade from
Ballina Library. The librarians in Sligo also helped out when I
was researching the Enniscrone area.
When seeking information about the Kilmeena ambush, I
attended the annual ceremony at the Republican plot in Myna
and was introduced to several interesting people there. I met
relatives of Patrick Marley (killed accidentally at Rockfield),
and Jim Browne and Pat Staunton (killed at Glenhest and
Kilmeena respectively). Also in attendance was Peadar Kilroy,
son of Michael, and he put me right about where Jim Moran
came from. The Hughes sisters of Ballina were made known to
me and told me of their father, Michael, who was injured but
escaped that fateful day at Kilmeena. Hugh Feehan of Rossow
was there too and had some interesting snippets of information
regarding events in the Kilmeena area. Liam Ryder, always
enthusiastic about national events, helped in identifying some
of the townlands that were proving problematic.
In the Islandeady district I enlisted the help of Paddy
Browne of Derrycourane. Paddy has an encyclopaedic mind,
and he brought me around the area pointing out the Big Wall,
the spot where Thomas Lally and Thomas O’Malley were killed,
Driminahaha RIC Barracks, and the house where Paddy Jordan
lived. Paddy knew, and was a friend of, Paddy Cannon, whose
interview is included in this book. He actually got to fire some
rounds from Cannon’s famous Mauser rifle.
9
The Men Will Talk to Me
In Westport, over the months, I spoke to relations of men
who were on active service in 1920–24. It was all very informal
and I gleaned much information then. Ger Geraghty provided
background information on his grand-uncle, Joe Ring. Patsy
Staunton told me of his uncle, Michael ‘Bully’ Staunton,
and how he emigrated to Chicago, never to return. Maureen
Lambert, niece of ‘Broddie’ Malone, provided essential dates.
Richie Joyce gave me information on his Uncle Rick, a member
of the West Mayo Brigade flying column. Liamy MacNally
gave me interesting facts on his grand-uncle, Willie Malone.
Pádraig Kennedy was always available to tell of his uncle, Ned
Sammon, quartermaster of the Westport Battalion during the
Truce and Civil War. Dave Keating looked up information for
me regarding the Sligo brigades. I also wish to thank Harry
Hughes, who was always ready to impart relevant information
for this project. A sincere thanks to all mentioned.
Lastly, I wish to thank Cormac O’Malley for inviting me to
participate in this venture. It was a pleasure to be involved with
the work of Ernie O’Malley.
Vincent Keane
10
Abbreviations
ASU Active Service Unit or Flying Column
Auxie/Auxies Auxiliary Division of the RIC
Capt. Captain
C/S
Chief of Staff
EOM Ernie O’Malley
GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
GHQ General Headquarters
IRA
Irish Republican Army
IRB
Irish Republican Brotherhood
the Joy
Mountjoy Gaol, Dublin
Lt Lieutenant
O/C Officer Commanding
PA Póilíní Airm or Military Police
RIC
Royal Irish Constabulary
Tintown 1, 2
Tintown internment camps No. 1 and No. 2
UCDA
UCD Archives
V/C Vice-Commanding Officer
11
Preface
Introducing the Ernie O’Malley
Military Interviews
Belmullet
Mayo
North Mayo Brigade
Ballina
West Mayo Brigade
4 West
Kilmeena
Louisburgh
Cormac K. H. O’Malley
Enniscrone
Swinford
3 West
Sligo
East Mayo Brigade
Newport
Castlebar
Highwall
Westport
2 West
Carrowkennedy
South Mayo Brigade
Tourmakeady
Leenane
Roscommon
Ballinrobe
Clifden
Galway
Athlone
1 West
Map showing counties, brigade areas and areas
of the four Western Divisions.
Though born in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, in 1897, Ernie O’Malley
moved to Dublin with his family in 1906 and attended CBS
secondary school and university there. After the 1916 Rising
he joined the Irish Volunteers while pursuing his medical
studies, but in late 1917 he left home and went on the run. He
rose through the ranks of the Volunteers and later the Irish
Republican Army, and by the time of the Truce in July 1921
at the end of the War of Independence, or Tan War as it was
known, he was a commandant-general commanding the 2nd
Southern Division covering parts of three counties and with
over 7,000 men under him.
O’Malley was suspicious of a compromise being made during
the peace negotiations which resulted in the Anglo-Irish Treaty
of December 1921 and reacted strongly against the Treaty when
it was announced. As the split developed in the senior ranks of the
IRA in early 1922, he was appointed director of organisation for
the anti-Treaty Republicans who then took over the Four Courts
in April. When the Four Courts garrison surrendered in June,
he managed to escape. He was then appointed acting assistant
chief of staff and officer commanding the Northern and Eastern
Divisions, or half of Ireland. In early November he was captured
in a dramatic shoot-out and was severely wounded. Ironically
his wounds probably saved his life, as otherwise he would have
been court-martialled and executed. While in Mountjoy Gaol in
13
The Men Will Talk to Me
Preface
1923, O’Malley was elected as a TD and later, despite his poor
health, he went on a forty-one-day hunger strike. Nevertheless,
he survived – a matter of mind over body!
Having been released from prison in July 1924 and still in
poor health, O’Malley went abroad to the south of Europe to
help recover his health. He later returned to his medical studies
in 1926, but in 1928 headed for the United States. While there
he began to write his much acclaimed autobiographical memoir,
On Another Man’s Wound, published in 1936 after he returned to
Dublin. He had spent seven years writing that book, which he
meant to be more of a generic story of the Irish struggle than
of his own activities. It was deemed to be a literary success and
added to his reputation among many of his former comrades.
O’Malley’s memoir on the Civil War was not ready for
publication, requiring more work, and over the next twenty
years he sought to become more familiar with the Civil War
period as a whole. What started out in the late 1930s as an effort
to supplement his own lack of knowledge, had developed by
1948 into a full-blown enterprise to record the voices, mostly
Republican, of the survivors of the 1916–23 struggle for
independence. He interviewed more than 450 survivors, across
a broad spectrum of people, by himself, covering the Tan War
and the Civil War – all this at a time when the government was
establishing the Bureau of Military History to record statements
made by participants in the fight for freedom.
In the course of his interviews O’Malley collected a vast
amount of local lore around Ireland. He wrote a series of
articles for The Kerryman, but withdrew them. Instead he used
the articles for a series of talks on Radio Éireann in 1953.
Subsequently the lectures were published in a series called Raids
and Rallies in The Sunday Press in 1955–56. In the meantime he
used the interviews to add to his own Civil War memoir, The
Singing Flame, published posthumously in 1978, and to write a
biographical memoir of a local Longford Republican organiser,
Seán Connolly, entitled Rising Out: Seán Connolly of Longford,
1890–1921, also published posthumously, in 2007.
O’Malley was familiar with the field of folklore and was well
read in Irish and international folklore traditions, and indeed in
the early 1940s had collected folklore stories from around his
home area in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo. He also picked up ballads and
stories about the 1916–23 period. His method for interviewing
was to write rapidly in a first series of notebooks as his informant
was speaking and then to rewrite those notes into a second series
of more coherent notebooks. Occasionally he would include
draw­ings of the site of an ambush or an attack on a barracks. In
the rewrite process he added in his own comments in parentheses.
Given his overall knowledge of the period, based on his own
Tan War activities and his Civil War responsibilities, he usually
commanded a high regard from his informants. He felt that his
former comrades would talk to him and tell him the truth.
From an examination of his interviews, O’Malley does
not appear to have used a consistent technique, but rather he
allowed his informant to ramble and cover many topics. In his
rewrite of an interview he often labelled sections such as Tan
War, Truce, Civil War, Gaols, Treatment of Prisoners, RIC,
IRB, Spies, Round-ups and the like. The tone is conversational,
allowing the narrative to unfold. He wrote down the names
of people and places phonetically rather than accurately. The
interviews are fresh and frank and many of these men’s stories
may have never been told even to their children, as they did
not speak openly about those times. Family members have said
they could hear the voices of their relatives speaking through
the O’Malley interviews, because O’Malley had been able to
capture their intonations and phrasing so clearly about matters
never discussed in the family before.
This present volume reveals ten O’Malley interviews that
14
15
The Men Will Talk to Me
Preface
cover activities in far-flung corners of Mayo, and neighbouring
parts of Roscommon and Sligo, during the War of Independence
and the Civil War. All of these Mayo men rejected the Treaty and
so their interviews reflect strong Republican opinions among
the Mayo Volunteers. Only three of the men interviewed here
made statements to the Bureau of Military History.
In transcribing O’Malley’s series of interviews some modest
changes have been made to help the reader better understand the
interview. To enable reference to O’Malley’s original pagination,
his pages are referred to in bold brackets, such as [39R], the
L or R representing the left or right side of his original page.
Unclear words have been put in italics indicating our best
attempt to decipher them. The sequence of some interviews has
been changed to better reflect the historical chronology, but the
original pagination has been noted and in most cases where this
has been done it is also footnoted. Some interviews had two
men speaking and they are clearly identified. Abbreviations have
been standardised and many of them have been expanded to the
full word, such as Battalion or Brigade for Bn or Bde. Extensive
footnotes provide a better understanding of the people, places
and incidents involved, and some are repeated in a subsequent
chapter to allow each chapter to be read separately as a complete
story. The text has been revised to include the correct spellings
for names and places, and the original spellings, usually written
phonetically by O’Malley, have been included in the footnotes
at their first appearance in each interview. O’Malley regularly
inserted his own comments inside parentheses, and these are
reflected in the current text. Our editorial comments have been
added in square brackets. Some new headings and subheadings
with dates have also been included in square brackets for clarity.
Each interview has been reproduced here almost in full.
Certain parts can be difficult to read as O’Malley left many
blank spaces where he was missing information, and these are
represented by ellipses in the text, but this sometimes means that
the sentence makes little or no sense. Ellipses have also been used
to indicate places where the text is indecipherable. The style of
local phrasing used in the interviews has been retained, some
of which is no longer in common usage and may read strangely
to the modern reader. In many instances names and facts have
been added in a seemingly random manner to the text and their
relevance to the discussion can be difficult to ascertain. However,
we felt it was important to maintain the integrity of the original
text, so these problems have been left unedited.
We have relied on the integrity of O’Malley’s knowledge of
facts and his ability to question and ascertain the ‘truth’, but
clearly it is possible that the details as related here to O’Malley
reflect only the perceptions of the individual informant rather
than the absolute historical truth, and the reader must appreciate
this important aspect.
O’Malley interviewed some men several times, and thus the
same incident may be recorded more than once. The duplications
have been included as they illustrate clearly how a memory by
the same person about the same incident may differ at different
times, especially if another person is present. O’Malley made
far more comments in these Mayo interviews than in the other
volumes, some of them quite critical, perhaps because though he
was not actually involved in any of these activities, he had heard
so much about the Mayo stories over the years.
For those not familiar with military organisational structures
such as the IRA during this period, it might be helpful to know
that the largest unit was a division, which consisted of several
brigades, each of which had several battalions, which in turn
were composed of several companies at the local level. There were
usually staff functions, such as intelligence and quartermaster
roles, at the division, brigade and battalion level, and usually
only officers at the company level.
16
17
19
12
21
6
North Mayo
5
Ach
Nephin Beg
Range
ill
29
4
30
West Mayo
31
Mweelrea
s
ain
34
Lo
M ug
as h
k
nt
rtr
yM
ou
33
Pa
y
ffr
ee lls
h
S Hi
27
26
Partry
20
17
East Mayo
25
18
14
South Mayo
10
7
8
Note: Actions in brigade areas are denoted by N=North, S=South,
E=East, W=West.
16
11
Highwall
Croagh
32 Patrick
24
Skerdagh
2
n
ou
M
ns
i
ta
22
1
Kilmeena
3
Ox
23
Lough
Conn
Chronology of Events
Impacting Co. Mayo and
Its Brigades, 1918–24
15
13
KEY
Mayo Brigade Borders
9
Map showing the four brigade areas in
Mayo prior to the creation of the 4th
Western Division in 1921, as well as
the significant towns and actions.
1. Newport
2. Westport
3. Louisburgh
4. Castlebar
5. Ballina
6. Belmullet
7. Leenane
8. Clifden
9. Galway
10. Ballinrobe
11. Swinford
12. Enniscrone
13. Easky
14. Claremorris
15. Sligo
16. Charlestown
17. Ballaghaderreen
Apr.
Conscription Crisis – the proposal that conscription be
introduced to Ireland is vigorously opposed.
May 17 Many prominent Republican leaders arrested because of
the so-called ‘German Plot’ .
Nov. 11 Armistice Day; assault on Westport citizens by the RIC
and the British Army.
Dec. 14 All four Mayo constituencies return Sinn Féin TDs in
the general election. E: É. de Valera, N: Dr J. Crowley, S:
W. Sears, W: J. MacBride.
1919
28
Lough
Corrib
1918
18. Ballyhaunis
19. Ballycastle
20. Partry
21. Glenamoy
22. Bunnyconnellan
23. Corballa
24. Tobbercurry
25. Knock
26. Balla
27. Srah
28. Tuam
29. Kiltimagh
30. Islandeady
31. Aughagower
32. Durless
33. Carrowkennedy
34. Tourmakeady
Mar. 29 W: Westport: John C. Milling, resident magistrate, killed.
Apr. 14 W: Sinn Féin Club in Westport closed by the RIC.
1920
Apr. 3 W: Easter burning of tax offices and RIC barracks
after their evacuation around Ireland includes Deer­
grove/Driminahaha, Cloontumper and Carrow­kennedy
Hut.
Apr. 4 E: Ballyhaunis: IRA attack RIC patrol, two wounded.
Apr. 20 N: Bellacorick Barracks burned (attack led by Paddy
Hegarty, Seán Corcoran).
May 12 E: Bohola Barracks burned (attack led by Seán Corcoran,
M. Mooney, Tom Ruane).
19
The Men Will Talk to Me
Chronology
N: Beckett’s Mill, Ballina, attacked by RIC; Patrick Coleman captured.
Jan. 24 Archbishop of Tuam, Dr T. P. Gilmartin, condemns the
IRA.
Mar. 7 S: At Kilfaul, near Partry, a number of soldiers are
wounded (Capt. Chatfield, Corporal Bell, Privates Wade
and Southworth) and one is killed by an ASU of the
South Mayo Brigade.
Mar. 7 S: IRA carry out the Portroyal ambush on the Ballinrobe–
Castlebar road.
Mar. 15 W: IRA attempt ambush at Gloshpatrick, near Westport.
Mar. 22 W: In the first IRA ambush at Carrowkennedy on an
RIC patrol, on the Westport–Leenane road, RIC Sgt J.
Coughlan is fatally wounded and Constables Maguire,
Love and Creeden are wounded.
Mar. 26 W: RIC reprisal in Westport for IRA’s Carrowkennedy
ambush.
Mar. 29 E: IRA man James Mulrennan, wounded at Kilmovee.
E: RIC Constable William H. Stephens killed in Bally­
haunis.
Apr. N: Easky RIC Barracks attacked.
Apr. 1 E: IRA man Seán Corcoran killed at Crossard, Ballyhaunis, and Maurice Mullins arrested. IRA man Michael
Coen killed at Lecarrow, Ballyhaunis.
Apr. 3 E: Charlestown bank raid.
Apr. 3 N: IRA attack a motor patrol at Bunnyconnellan, near
Ballina and one RIC man is wounded.
Apr. 3 N: RIC capture IRA ammunition dump near Ballina.
Apr. 5 E: Two spies shot by the IRA at Loughglynn.
Apr. 15 N: IRA ambush RIC patrol in Bridge Street, Ballina,
wounding two RIC men. This is followed by RIC/Tan
reprisals.
Apr. 19 E: RIC raid in Loughglynn, where IRA men John Bergin
and Stephen MacDermot are captured and executed, and
Matt Kilcawley arrested.
Apr. 23 W: IRA attack RIC motor patrol at Clogher – no casualties.
May 3 S: IRA ambush RIC lorry at Tourmakeady, killing RIC
Constables Christopher P. O’Regan, Herbert Oakes,
William Power and John Regan, and wounding Lt
20
21
JuneN: Cloongee House, Foxford, raided for arms.
June E: Ambush on two lorries of soldiers at Swinford – no
casualties.
June 4 Mayo County Council local elections: Dr John Madden,
Tom Maguire, Ned Moane, P. J. Ruttledge and twentyfour others win a clean sweep for Sinn Féin.
June 15 N: Belmullet RIC Constable Pierce Doogue killed.
July At Castlebar the decision is made to create four Mayo
brigades: West (O/C Tom Derrig), North (O/C Tom
Ruane), East (O/C Seán Corcoran), and South (O/C
Tom Maguire).
July 1 N: Culleens RIC Barracks attacked.
July 17 E: Swinford: IRA ambush 2nd Border Regiment patrol,
both soldiers wounded.
July 22 N: Ballina: IRA attack RIC patrol: RIC Sgt Thomas R.
Armstrong fatally wounded; Constable Regan seriously
wounded.
Aug. 1 E: Near Ballyhaunis, IRA attack lorry of soldiers, three
wounded.
Aug. 19 E: Swinford Railroad Relay Supply Station destroyed.
Aug. 22 E: Ballyvary Barracks attacked (led by Seán Corcoran
and Seán Walsh).
Aug. 30 N: Enniscrone Coast Guard Station attacked and burned.
Aug. 30 N: Belmullet Coast Guard Station, Ballyglass, raided and
destroyed.
Aug./Sep. W: Tom Derrig arrested and M. Kilroy succeeds him
as O/C West Mayo Brigade.
Nov.
P. J. Ruttledge arrested.
1921
Jan. 9
The Men Will Talk to Me
Chronology
Ibberson and two others. Adjutant Michael O’Brien and
Scout Pádraig Feeney, IRA, are killed and Tom Maguire
wounded.
May 6 W: Big or High Wall ambush near Islandeady Dance
Hall, where a high wall separates the road from the railway. Thomas O’Malley, and Thomas Lally of the IRA
are killed and Frank O’Boyle and James MacNulty are
wounded and captured.
May 8 W: IRA attack a patrol at the Red (Railway) Bridge,
Westport, wounding five RIC men.
May 9 S: RIC Constable Thomas Hopkins on home leave is
killed at Leface, Ballindine.
May 17 E: Ballaghaderreen RIC Barracks attacked from train.
May 18 W: RIC Sergeant Francis J. Butler killed in Newport and
another RIC man wounded.
May 19 W: IRA ambush RIC lorries at Kilmeena. John Collins, Seamus MacEvilly, Thomas O’Donnell and John
Pat Staunton of the IRA are killed and Paddy Jordan
is wounded and dies shortly afterwards. John Cannon,
Paddy Mulloy, Thomas Nolan, Paddy O’Malley and John
Pierce are captured. Constable Harry Beckett, RIC, is
killed and Head Constable Potter wounded.
May 22 E: Kilmovee RIC Barracks attacked by the IRA.
May 23 W: Skerdagh engagement after retreat from Kilmeena.
Constable Joseph Maguire, RIC, is killed and DI James
Munro wounded; Jim Browne, IRA, is killed.
May 23 N: Foxford Barracks attacked.
May 24 N: RIC District Inspector White attacked in Ballina.
General election provides a clean sweep for Sinn Féin
candidates: N/W Mayo: J. Crowley, T. Derrig, J. MacBride,
P. J. Ruttledge; S. Mayo/Roscommon: T. Maguire, H.
Boland, W. Sears, D. O’Rourke; E. Mayo/Sligo: F. Ferran,
T. O’Donnell, A. McCabe, S. Devins and F. Carty.
May 25 N: At Bunree, near Ballina, IRA man James Howley
(Enniscrone) is wounded and dies later.
May 27 E: At Aghamore, Ballyhaunis, IRA man Paddy Boland is
killed.
June 1 W: Drummin RIC Barracks burned after evacuation.
June 2 W: Second Carrowkennedy ambush. The IRA attack
RIC patrol lorries, killing District Inspector Edward
J. Stevenson, Sgt Francis Creegan, Constables Sydney
Blythe, James Browne, John Doherty, Thomas Dowling
and William French, and wounding four constables.
There are no IRA casualties.
June 2–July 11 W: Massive round-up by RIC/British Army after
the Carrowkennedy ambush.
June 16 E: Ballyhaunis RIC Barracks attacked by the IRA.
June 22 N: Clydagh, Ballina. In an exchange of fire with the RIC
Tom Nealon (Aughoose) is killed and Éamonn Gannon,
O/C North Mayo IRA, Pat Bourke, Bartley Hegarty,
Anthony Farrell, Tom Loftus and his father (all on the
local IRA staff ) are captured.
July 1 N: IRA raid on Tuffy’s Post Office in Culleens. In Glenesk
RIC Constables Thomas Higgins and John King are cap­
tured and killed and two other RIC men are wounded,
while two IRA men are killed.
July 7 N: RIC Sgt Anthony Foody’s body is found at Caralavin,
near Bunnyconnellan with a note stating ‘Revenge for
O’Dwyer’.
July 11 Truce between the IRA and British forces comes into
effect.
Aug./Sep. Four Western Divisions are formed. O/Cs are 1st:
Michael Brennan, 2nd: Tom Maguire, 3rd: Liam Pilkington and 4th: Michael Kilroy.
Sep./Oct. IRA training camps established in Ballycarran, Belmullet, Clydagh, Enniscrone, Nephin and Swinford.
Oct. 5 W: Westport Workhouse taken over by the IRA.
Dec. 6 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed. Westport meeting for the
return of the IRA internees.
22
23
The Men Will Talk to Me
Chronology
1922
(terms: FSA = Free State army; IRA = anti-Treaty Republicans)
Jan. 7 Dáil Éireann approves the Treaty.
Jan. 16 IRA raid an RIC barracks in Charlestown for guns; Sgt
McGovern is wounded.
Jan. 17 Swinford Barracks attacked by the IRA.
Feb. 2 Ballinrobe and Claremorris Barracks taken over by the
IRA.
Feb. 14 Castlebar and Ballina Barracks taken over by the IRA.
Mar. 4 Swinford Barracks taken over by the IRA.
Mar. 8–10 Limerick stand-down: FSA troops under Michael
Brennan retire, leaving the city in the hands of Ernie
O’Malley’s anti-Treaty troops.
Spring Michael Collins sets up a rifle-swap plan to help arm the
Catholic community in the North with guns not traceable back to the new southern authorities.
Apr. 1 Castlebar pro-Treaty election rally, where Michael Collins is heckled by anti-Treaty supporters.
Apr. 13 W: Joe Ring, FSA, arrested in Westport, then released by
the IRA.
Apr. 13 IRA take over the Four Courts in Dublin.
Apr. 24 FSA General Adamson killed in Athlone.
Apr. 30 FSA Comdt Simmons captured in Mayo. He is eventually released by Tom Maguire.
June 16 General election held. In Mayo N/W, Mayo S/Rosc. S,
and Mayo E/Sligo eight anti-Treaty and five pro-Treaty
TDs are elected. Nationally eighty-two pro-Treaty and
forty-six others are elected.
June 28–30 Attack on and surrender of the Four Courts. This
heralds the official start of the Civil War.
June 29 E: IRA Capt. William Moran, O/C Bohola IRA, killed;
Tom Ruane, FSA, of Kiltimagh fatally wounded.
July 1 N: Boyle battle.
July 2 N: Collooney, Co. Sligo, attacked by the IRA (led by F.
Carty). Michael Dockery, FSA, is killed in Boyle.
July 13 N: ‘The Ballinalee’, an FSA armoured car, is captured by
the IRA.
July 14 N: FSA sweep of the Ox Mountains.
July 15 N: Collooney, Co. Sligo, surrendered by the IRA.
July 23 E: Claremorris Barracks burned by the IRA.
July 24 W: In Westport FSA forces led by Brigadier General Joe
Ring land from the sea. Newport Barracks is destroyed
by the IRA. At Glenhest, Newport, Tommy Heavey is
captured.
July 25 W: Castlebar taken by the FSA.
N: Ballina Barracks burned by the IRA.
July 29 N: The FSA takes Ballina; the IRA withdraw to the Ox
Mountains.
Aug. 3 W: At Bracklagh, Newport, Sgt Lally and Pvt Deasy of
the FSA are killed; Edward Hegarty, IRA, is also killed.
Aug. 4 E: Swinford Barracks captured by the IRA.
Aug. 7 E: Kiltimagh attacked.
Aug.W: In early August Paddy Cannon is arrested.
Aug. 11 E: At Kiltimagh thirty IRA men are arrested.
N: Near Ballina, ambush by the IRA.
Aug. 16 W: Castlebar taken by the IRA.
Aug. 21 W: IRA men Paddy Cannon,Tommy Heavey and Broddie Malone escape from Athlone Gaol.
Aug. 22 Michael Collins is killed by the IRA in Cork.
Aug. 23 S: At Brize House, Claremorris, Cannon, Heavey and
Malone are recaptured.
Aug. 25 E: Tom Carney and other IRA men are captured in Ballaghaderreen.
Aug.
W: In late August IRA man Battie Cryan is captured.
Sep. 6 E: IRA James Vesey, Luke Taylor and Peter Donnelly are
captured at Ballyhaunis-Kilkelly.
Sep. 12 N: The IRA launch a successful attack at Ballina.
Sep. 14 N: At Drumsheen, near Bunnyconnellan, Joe Ring, FSA,
is killed and Tony Lawlor wounded.
Sep. 15–16 N: Ambushes by the IRA at Belderg/Glenamoy.
24
25
The Men Will Talk to Me
Chronology
Sep. 20 N: Brian MacNeill and five others are executed by the
FSA at Benbulbin, Co. Sligo.
Sep. 21 S: Tuam taken by the IRA, who then withdraw.
Sep. 22 W: Newport attacked by the IRA, who then withdraw.
Sep. 24 W: Newport evacuated by the FSA.
Oct. 2 E: In Ballaghaderreen a large IRA force of 140 men
assembles.
Oct. 3 The Provisional Government offers an amnesty to the
IRA.
Oct. 6 In Athlone, Patrick Mulrennan, IRA, is shot while in custody and dies of his wounds on 3 November.
Oct. 10 S: Tom Maguire, IRA, captured.
Oct. 10 The bishops’ pastoral letter is issued. It is read on Sunday
22 of that month.
Oct. 14 At Ballyheane, Comdt Mitchell of the FSA is killed, as is
Seamus Mulrennan, IRA.
Oct. 29 W: The IRA launch a successful attack on Clifden and
Christie Macken is seriously wounded.
Oct.–Nov.E: Johnny Grealy, IRA, captured in Aghamore.
Nov.E: Tom Carney, IRA, escapes from Longford Gaol.
Nov. 14 N: Four IRA men are captured at Markree Castle, Co.
Sligo.
Nov. 24 W: Newport attacked by the FSA; Michael Kilroy and
other IRA men captured.
Dec. 8 Execution of R. Barrett, J. McKelvey, L. Mellows and R.
O’Connor in Dublin.
Dec. 8 W: Paddy Duffy, IRA, captured in Islandeady.
Jan. 17 E: IRA attacks FSA patrol at Glore, near Kiltimagh.
Feb.
E: Tom Carney, IRA, wounded.
Feb. 9 Liam Deasy, then in prison, gives a statement calling for
a ceasefire by the IRA.
Feb. 9–10 E: Claremorris: P. Burke (Knock), J. D. McCormack
(Liskeavy), IRA, escape from imprisonment.
Feb. 15 FSA captures IRA men Joyce, Donnelly and Heneghan
at Castlecarra.
Feb. 23 W: In Westport Pvt McQuaid, FSA assistant medical
officer, is killed, and Capt. Togher, FSA O/C Westport, is
wounded.
Mar. 6 W: Paddy Duffy, T. Ruane, C. Gavan and J. Gibbons
escape from Galway Gaol.
Mar. 7 W: Joe Baker and thirteen other IRA men are captured at
Shramore, Newport.
Mar. 23–6 The IRA Executive meet in the Nire Valley, but no
decision is made on a possible ceasefire.
Apr. 6 W: In Dublin Tom Derrig (Westport) is wounded and
arrested.
Apr. 7 N: Nicholas Corcoran, IRA, is killed in Ballina.
Apr. 8 S: Headford Barracks attacked by the IRA. FSA: Mc­Carthy and Lyons killed; IRA: Dan McCormack is
severely wounded and John Higgins killed.
Apr. 10 IRA C/S Liam Lynch is killed in Tipperary.
Apr. 11 S: Execution of six Republicans in Tuam as a reprisal for
the IRA attack on the Headford Free State army post:
Frank Cunnane, Martin Moylan, Seán Maguire, Michael
Monaghan, John Newell and Séamus Ó Máille.
Apr. 23 W: Battie Cryan, Paddy Cannon and Broddie Malone
escape from the Curragh internment camp.
Apr. 27 IRA C/S Frank Aiken calls for a ceasefire, to come into
effect on 30 April.
May 24 IRA C/S Aiken calls for an end to armed resistance and
a Dump Arms to be effective from 28 May.
May 24 W: In North Connemara senior staff of the 4th Western
Division, including P. J. McDonnell, John Kilroy, Stephen Coyne and Jack Feehan, are captured.
June 5 N: In Ballina, IRA man Joe Healy (Ardnaree) is killed.
June 10 S: Tom Maguire and others escape from Athlone Gaol.
Aug. 25 E: Tom Carney, IRA, is captured.
Aug. 27 General election. In Mayo North and South four Sinn
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1923
The Men Will Talk to Me
Féin and five Cumann na nGaedheal TDs are elected.
Nationally Cumann na nGaedheal win 39 per cent of the
vote, Sinn Féin 28 per cent and other parties 23 per cent.
Sep.N: Matt Kilcawley is captured.
Oct. 12–Nov. 23 Republican prisoners start/end a general hunger
strike in jails across the country.
1924
Early Republican prisoners are released in stages.
July 16–17 The last, senior Republicans are released from Free
State internment camps.
28
Introduction
Vincent Keane
Those of us interested in the modern Irish revolutionary period,
1913–23, await each year the appearance of books containing
new information on the topic. Too often we pick up a new
publication and have to struggle through the initial sections
detailing all the history that we are conversant with, such as
unchanging versions of the founding of the Ulster Volunteers,
the Irish Volunteers, the 1916 Rising and others. This publication
is different. This is not a studious, well-structured book. Strictly
speaking, this is also not a book by Ernie O’Malley. These are not
his words, but he did do all the hard slog necessary for the birth
of this publication, a book with a difference. A basic knowledge
of Irish history from the Parnell Split of 1899 to the Sinn Féin
election victory of December 1918 is necessary to understand
why the IRA existed in 1918 and afterwards. What better place
to get that knowledge but in Ernie O’Malley’s On Another Man’s
Wound, which is a wonderful companion to this book.
We have here ten interviews with senior veterans from Mayo
of the revolutionary years in Ireland. Mostly there is a narrow
focus of six years of reminiscences, from 1919 and the settingup of Dáil Éireann to 1924 and the release of the Civil War
internees. Some of those interviewed go back further, taking in
the local events of the 1916 Rising, but these are few.
Ernie O’Malley conducted the interviews in the early 1950s
when those relating their stories were getting on in age and
memories were failing. It must have taken tremendous patience
on the part of O’Malley to get all this history together. Consider
how he had to locate the people to interview. In those days
29
The Men Will Talk to Me
Introduction
without telephones it was difficult to track people down, but
on many occasions a former interviewee accompanied him for
the introduction, for though he was a respected name, with an
established anti-Treaty record, he had never actually fought in
the west and thus was not known personally to the men.
The Irish government decided in 1947 that it was an appro­
priate time in the country’s history to approach the participants
of the Irish revolutionary period for their personal witness
statements of their involvement in the various organisations
that existed in the period, e.g. Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers,
the Irish Citizen Army, Na Fianna Éireann and Cumann na
mBan. The timing was appropriate because a certain unity had
been achieved in Ireland during the Emergency between 1939
and 1945. Thousands of Civil War opponents had put aside their
differences and had joined the Irish Army or one of the various
voluntary organisations, e.g. the Local Defence Force, the Local
Security Force, Auxiliary Fire Brigades and the Red Cross.
With this unity in mind, the government set up the Bureau of
Military History at Westland Row in Dublin. People could go
to the offices of the Bureau and make their witness statements
to an army officer. If they were unable, or unwilling, they could
submit a written statement to the Bureau. These statements
have lately become available to the public.
However, some men, such as General Tom Barry, refused
to make a statement to the Bureau. Barry’s view was that the
people going to the Bureau were making statements that were
not verified or corroborated by their senior officers and that a
person could say anything about any event, or about any person,
and it was accepted by the Bureau. Due to the limitations of
space, only ten of O’Malley’s twenty-eight Mayo interviews are
included here and only four of the men who gave them also
went to the Bureau.
O’Malley’s technique was quite different, so keep this in
mind as you read these interviews. He would make contact with
an IRA veteran and the interview would normally take place
in the person’s home. His approach was dissimilar to that of
the Bureau: it was all very relaxed and it was Ernie doing the
writing, not taking written statements. Often, the person being
interviewed would stray away from the subject in hand and
that is obvious in the various narratives. But that’s the nature of
oral history; they were not making formal statements. So this
collection is not intended to be a well-structured and complete
history of the revolutionary period in Mayo.
The 1916 Rising passed by without Mayo knowing too much
about it. It was wartime, newspapers were scarce and there was
harsh censorship. News of the fighting in Dublin came via the
railway workers whose work connected them with the capital
and the west. It was a train driver who brought the news of John
MacBride’s execution to Westport some days after the event.
The west was cut off from information and the Irish Volunteers’
headquarters did not deem Mayo important enough to notify
about the coming Rising. However, the RIC realised that there
were determined Republicans in the county, with strong Fenian
traditions, people who would eventually strike at the British
establishment. This prompted them to round up and send these
prospective troublemakers for internment after Easter 1916.
In doing this the establishment made a huge mistake, as the
interned men became more learned and determined in their
efforts to work for an Ireland free of domination by its nearest
neighbour.
Post-1916 a great wave of nationalism spread across the
country. The various Republican organisations had a rebirth and
the shackles of the Irish Parliamentary Party were loosened and
finally cast aside, as witnessed in the 1918 general election. A
new order was in the offing and young Republicans were no
longer being cowed by the establishment, the police and the
30
31
The Men Will Talk to Me
Introduction
clergy. New, youthful leaders were coming to the fore and
the jails were filling with those who were rejecting all the old
symbols of imperialism. The heavy-handed methods of the RIC
and military were to be met head-on with armed resistance, a
resistance backed by the newly formed Dáil Éireann representing
the majority in the country.
The old Irish Volunteer structures were revamped in
1917 and new, prison-hardened men were appointed to the
head­quarters staff. After the formation of the Dáil the very
name Irish Volunteers was dropped, and it became the Irish
Republican Army. Great strides were made and companies of
the IRA sprang up all over the country. In 1920 new structures
had to be organised to accommodate this new army. The old
Mayo Brigade, which was inactive and functioned more as a
committee that rarely met, was revamped and in 1920 four
new brigades came from it. GHQ had a firm hand on the
organisation and a proper chain of command and responsibility
emerged in 1920.
Many in the RIC recognised what was happening and
resigned. The force was much depleted and recruits, mostly
battle-hardened ex-British Army men from Britain and across
the Empire, including some Mayo men, were joining up. These
new recruits, the ‘Tans’, gave the impression of ruthlessness and
indiscipline, but they were members of the RIC and under the
control of RIC sergeants, head constables and district inspectors,
who led them on terror raids, assaulting their way across the
land, as witnessed at Tiernaur, Cuilmore and countless other
locations. The RIC was the front line of the Empire in Ireland,
and it was creating the conditions whereby armed resistance
was inevitable. Instead of being referred to as the Tan War, the
conflict should be known as the RIC War.
Officially, the War of Independence was played out between
1919 and 1921. In the Mayo brigades the main actions mostly
took place in the early months of 1921, in locations such as Kilmeena, Tourmakeady and Carrowkennedy. We now know that
by the time of the Carrowkennedy ambush in June 1921, Truce
talks were going on between Irish and British representatives.
We are familiar with the numerous events across the country
that forced the British government to the negotiating table in
1921. Did we win? Did the British forces win? Or, was it a stalemate, a draw? The situation was left in such an unresolved state
that it was inevitable that at some future date young men would
again resort to force of arms.
One thing missing from these interviews is any recognition
of the tremendous work undertaken by the women of Cumann
na mBan and the youth of Na Fianna Éireann. The women
played an equal part in the national struggle and without their
aid in carrying arms and dispatches, providing food and shelter,
and generally giving full backing to the men, it would have been
impossible to carry on. Armed columns of men would descend
on a townland after a long night waiting to confront the enemy.
Many miles would have been travelled and the column, often
numbering sixty men (see Michael Kilroy’s interview) would
be seeking hot food and places to sleep. The women came up
trumps and everyone would be catered for. While the men ate
and rested, the women were on full alert.
Na Fianna Éireann, the Irish National Boy Scouts, had
been in existence since 1909. When the Irish Volunteers were
founded in 1913, the Fianna officers provided a cadre of young
men experienced at foot drill, handling weapons, first aid,
camping, etc. Boys like Liam Mellows, Seán Heuston, Con
Colbert and a host of others were the nucleus of the Irish
Volunteers and later the IRA. Where there was a good Sluagh
(branch) of Na Fianna, a strong company of the IRA followed.
All the underground departments of Dáil Éireann in Dublin
had Fianna officers as clerks and dispatch riders. In the group
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33
The Men Will Talk to Me
photograph of the West Mayo Brigade ASU (flying column), at
least twelve of the men started their Republican careers in Na
Fianna Éireann in Westport.
After one year of relative peace, July 1921 to June 1922, the
pro- and anti-Treaty sides faced each other in arms at the Four
Courts in Dublin. The IRA was outgunned by a Free State army
of 55,000 troops armed by the British, who also facilitated the
Free State government by disbanding the Munster Fusiliers, the
Dublin Fusiliers, the Leinsters and the Connaught Rangers so
that they could enlist in the Free State army. It is now estimated
that 16,000 Republicans were interned from 1922 to 1924.
Brian O’Higgins, Sinn Féin TD, author and poet, related how
at least 150 IRA men were killed on lonely country roads and
city streets during this period. Can we ever forget the seventyseven executed against prison walls?
This book is an ideal companion to the two already published
on Kerry and Galway. It will give you hours of reading.
West Mayo
Michael Kilroy
(UCDA 17b/101, pp. 39–60; 136, pp. 42–44; and 138, pp. 11–14)1
Michael Kilroy (1884–1962) was
born in Derryloughan, near Newport,
but raised in Carrickaneady, also close
to Newport. He attended Cuilmore
and later Newport national school.
He was apprenticed as a carpenter in
Claremorris but became a blacksmith
and started his forge in Newport in
1905. He joined the Irish Volunteers
in Newport and became O/C of the
Newport Company and later the Copyright J. J. Leonard
(courtesy of Anthony
Newport Battalion. Initially he was
Leonard)
quartermaster of the West Mayo
Brigade, then in August 1920 he became vice-commandant. He
was later appointed commandant of the brigade’s flying column
or ASU. He was appointed O/C of the 4th Western Division
upon its creation in August or September 1921. During the
1 Initial transcriptions were prepared by Frances-Mary Blake and Dominic Price,
and additional corrections and footnotes have been added. This interview was
carried out in three sessions and appears in three separate volumes (101, 136
and 138) of the Ernie O’Malley Military Notebooks. The three have now been
integrated in chronological order with the volume number appearing before
the page number, e.g. [101/39R]. Kilroy made a statement to the Bureau of
Military History – WS 1162.
34
35